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Not Happy: Wenger unleashed on referee Milorad Mazic after the game. Photo: Reuters

Istanbul: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger acknowledged his side's 0-0 draw with Besiktas in a Champions League playoff in Istanbul on Tuesday was a fair result for a "difficult" game but blasted the performance of the referee.

The Serbian referee Milorad Mazic sent off Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey 10 minutes from time for a second bookable offence, neither of which an angry Wenger said were justified.

"I think not the first not the second yellow card was deserved for Ramsey," Wenger said.

"When you see some of the fouls committed and you go home with a red card for Ramsey it is somewhat unbelievable.

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"In the second half the performance of the referee was very bad," he said, noting that infringements by Besiktas went unpunished.

Wenger -- whose 100 per cent win record in Champions League playoff matches came to an end after 12 wins in 12 -- described the game as a "difficult match played at a high pace" and praised the opposition for giving their all.

"We always want to win, but look, Besiktas could have won the game and maybe we could have won," he said.

"Maybe a draw is a fair result as both teams had chances to win the game."

On the return leg in London, he said: "We know that Besiktas is a good team, we know the game will be tight, but the task is clear."

Wenger expressed admiration for Slaven Bilic's side.

"We faced a very good Besiktas team tonight. Their commitment was fantastic," he said.

Croatian was himself sent to the stands in the dying minutes for protesting at a failure to penalise an Arsenal player for a foul on one of his team but expressed satisfaction with the result.

"From my point of view we were closer to beating them. We did not score from our chances but I have nothing against my players, they were fantastic all of them," Bilic said.

Bilic expressed optimism that his side could spring an upset on the return leg in London.

"We are going to go to London not just for shopping in Harrods but we are going to go to fulfil -- some would say our dream -- I would say our plan," he said.

Bilic apologised to the referee for the argument that saw him sent off.

Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen is better placed to reach the group stage of the Champions League after winning 3-2 at FC Copenhagen.